Our aim is to create a space that supports an interdisciplinary group of diverse young researchers to come together in unusual collaborations to address the most pressing challenges of the age.

As early and mid-career academics of the four alliance institutes we are committed to finding ways to address pressing societal challenges and produce sustainable transitions towards a better future. We do this by stimulating collaborations across fields and disciplines, across institutes, and with partners from outside academia. Collaborations that go beyond the interdisciplinary research that exists already. And between young researchers who would, under ordinary circumstances, not team up. CUCo aims to foster new, unexpected, and unexplored collaborations based on co-design and co-creation of research projects.

A space for collaborations

We provide a space, both physical and intellectual, where collaborations can take place. We facilitate thinking, learning and research that is:

• collaborative and interdisciplinary
• innovative and exploratory
• unexpected, surprising, and adventurous

We offer support through training, inspirational events, research grants and a range of tools and approaches. CUCo wishes to provoke debate on what it means to be a young academic longing to think outside the box. We showcase unusual modes of thinking and doing research. Our physical space, CUCo’s Nest, provides a venue for workshops, trainings, network events and collaboration. 

CUCo grants

CUCo also provides financial support for outside-the-box projects:

• Spark – An interdisciplinary learning space that supports early and mid-career academics in strengthening competences for interdisciplinary research. It also serves to meet unknown others to explore a research team and idea with. available.
• Unusual Collaborations are larger grants that are meant to take a Spark idea or project further by enabling outside-the-box interdisciplinary research that is societally relevant and may aim to contribute to societal impact.

CUCo is serious about collaboration and invites grant recipients to document and share their processes and experiences of working together in unusual collaborations in order to help future teams.